Cryptocurrencies and the Entrepreneurial Mindset: The Role of Financial Literacy in Driving Adoption

Alexandru Ursu, Petru L. Curșeu (), Sabina R. Trif and Alina Maria Cociș (Fleștea)
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Alexandru Ursu: Department of Psychology, Babeș-Bolyai University, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Petru L. Curșeu: Department of Psychology, Babeș-Bolyai University, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Sabina R. Trif: Department of Psychology, Babeș-Bolyai University, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Alina Maria Cociș (Fleștea): Department of Psychology, Babeș-Bolyai University, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Administrative Sciences, 2025, vol. 15, issue 10, 1-18

Abstract: Cryptocurrencies are rapidly transforming digital finance and entrepreneurship, yet their adoption by entrepreneurs remains rather poorly understood. Drawing on the Threat-Rigidity Model (TRM) and the opportunity recognition literature, this study examines how entrepreneurial experience, financial literacy, perceived opportunities, and perceived threats influence entrepreneurial intention to use cryptocurrencies. We tested a moderated mediation model in which the association between financial literacy and experience, on the one hand, and intention to use cryptocurrencies, on the other, was mediated by perceived opportunities. In this model, perceived threats served as a moderator on the relationship between financial literacy and intention, as well as between perceived opportunities and adoption intention. Data were collected from a sample of 133 Romanian entrepreneurs across diverse industries. The results supported the mediating role of perceived opportunities in the relationship between financial literacy and intention to use cryptocurrencies in business and showed that the positive association between financial literacy and intention was attenuated by perceived threats. Entrepreneurial experience did not significantly influence perceived opportunities, while women entrepreneurs reported lower intention to adopt cryptocurrencies in business. This study is among the first to use the TRM to explore how the interplay of perceived opportunities and threats shapes cryptocurrency adoption in entrepreneurship. Other implications, limitations, and directions for future research are also discussed.

Keywords: cryptocurrency; entrepreneurship; opportunities; threats; financial literacy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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